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Petrarch once enlightened, Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together. Unfortunately, sight is the main sense of mankind which is why many people in the world are judgmental and cant see pass the outside shell of people. Without mans idealistic limitations of colors and shapes of a persons outside appearance, the world would be more virtuous rather than the cesspool it is becoming as time progresses. It would not idolize sexual attraction, cuteness, and conceit like it does now. If there were no set ideal characteristics about the outside appearance a person has to have, then there probably would not be as much separation and isolation due to ugliness, disability, or an awkward physical characteristic. There are people however that love the direction the world is going, these people make decisions everyday about how they are going to judge and treat people.
They decide whether or not they approve or reject the way the person acts and exudes their way of life. A perfect example of this can be seen in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, when the reader first meets the creature and sees how he is the ugliest character of the novel on the outside but ironically, the creature was much more likeable and decent than his creator, until his view of man had vanished by the hatred and injustice served to him. So many different themes can be addressed by this prompt but the ones that stick out are Nature vs. Nurture between the creator and the created and how appearances are not everything. During the creatures lonely journey, he is never given the chance to engage in any conversation except with Victor.
During the creatures creation, the reaction of Victor, his dad, is so dreadful. This reaction actually makes the reader forget that it is the birth of a human being which is seen to be one of the most precious occurrences in the life. This is why the theme Nature vs. Nurture sticks out to the reader because one would think that Victor should have a paternal bond to the creature. This bond is further expected not only because of the time and effort put into the creature but also the fact that it is an extension of his mind.
The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had finished, the beauty of a dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a longtime traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep. (Shelley, 43), this quote demonstrates how even though Victor spent extensive time and effort on the monster, human nature took over and told Victor that he should loathe his monstrous creation because it is ugly and unwanted rather than nurture and take care of something he produced and assembled.
Victor judged the monster before he got a chance to talk to it and find that it was only ugly on the outside but possessed beautiful attributes on the inside which the reader later finds out. Victors disgust is further shown in the quote Mingled with this horror, I felt the bitterness of disappointment; dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell to me; and the change was so rapid, the overthrow so complete! (Shelley, 44), this quote oozes with the true feelings of loathe that Victor feels towards his repulsive mistake the life which I had so thoughtlessly bestowed (Shelley, 81). Victor describes his miserable disappointment as a misshapen monster when he says His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of lustrous black, and flowing his teeth of pearly whiteness; but these luxuriance's only form a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips (Shelley, 43). Later in the novel Victor sees the creature after a long time of his roaming around without a clue, and he trembled with rage and horror (Shelley, 86). Victor wants to fight the monster because he has a feeling that creature might have killed William. This idea was first formed because of the creatures appearance and that he was close to the scene of the crime.
Later the reader finds out however that this suspicion is true. Later in the creature starts to see the goodness of the human heart and desires to learn more about man. As the creatures journey progresses, he is fascinated by the moon and sun, and the other peaceful, serene settings of nature. He describes a community as, miraculous (Shelley, 102), and then the creature sacrifices his own hunger by refusing to steal from poor people who live in a cottage. Oddly enough after the creatures courtesy, the villagers react in an unpleasant manner because of his appearance as read in the quote the children shrieked, and one of the woman fainted (Shelley, 97).
At this point the creatures appearance starts to take a toll on his state of mind. The creature reflects, Alas! I did not entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable infirmity (Shelley, 100) and then it thinks, Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all woman disowned? (Shelley, 108). These quotes make the reader wonder if the creature has started to believe the judgments and that he is an outsider to man and he deserves to wander around alone. The people who live in the cottage also display a contrast of truth and appearance. The creature almost falls in love with the poor family from a distance.
He believes that they show a kind of natural innocence and bond by observing them from a distance. He starts to get a feeling of family. Although the creature notices the differences of age and body forms, he strangely gives them moral roles without judging them. The creature says, One was old, with silver hairs and a countenance beaming with benevolence and love: the younger was slight and graceful in his figure, and his features were molded in the finest symmetry (Shelley, 105). The funny thing is that the blind man slightly readdresses the theme of appearance when he says, there is something in your words which persuades me that you are sincere (Shelley, 130). Although even the old man contradicts the evil test of true balance when he utters, I am blind and cannot judge of your countenance If the blind man only knew the error of these words, the creature may have found a true home there.
This romantic novel includes several instances of how appearances are not everything and this includes but is not limited to the isolation of Victors creation, the creatures partial view of the De Lacey's, and the horrible judgment of Victor. The actions of the monster demonstrate to the reader of how the quest for acceptance in life leads many good people over the edge and gives them the drive to do indecent and cruel acts. No one truly wants to be the reason many people to lead a life of hardship, yet society still lets this action happen today. The true message that needs to go across the reader of this papers mind is that the simple meaningless of something as stupid as someones appearance can cause isolation which is something nothing should have to suffer. It is an atrocious habit for man to go on in life carefree knowing that they hurt someone.
Just think that if the appearance-obsessed society paused for one minute to look at the personality of what they feared, a lot of lives may have been saved.
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Research essay sample on People Who Live Time And Effort
